Peers Coach Peers on Cyber Bullying

At a cyber bullying workshop given at the Rumson Fair Haven Regional High School, a facilitator said to a classroom full of freshman students, "Raise your hand if you or someone you know has been cyber bullied." 

The entire class raised their hand.

Cyberbullying, according to stopcyberbullying.org, is when an adolescent is threatened, harassed, embarrassed or  targeted by another child or teen using the Internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones. Some examples where cyber bullying occurs are on Facebook or through text messaging.

"I think this program is really important because a lot of people don't realize how serious the issue really is," said Abby Cooner, a Peer Leader in the 11th grade.

According to a recent study by the Cyber Bullying Research Center, about 20% of randomly selected 11‐18 year‐old students said they had been a victim at some point in their life. About this same number admitted to cyberbullying others during their lifetime. About 10% of kids in this recent study said they had both been a victim and an offender.

The R-FH program was split up into two parts. First, the students watched a video that told a story about a young man who was cyber bullied. After the video, the peer leaders discussed how to recognize cyber bullying, how cyber bullying affects other students and the school community, and how to prevent it from happening. The peer leaders also talked about their own experiences with being cyber bullied and how to handle a situation if it were to happen to them or a friend.

The peers teaching peers formula was developed by Dr. Suzanne Fico, the high school's Student Assistance Councilor, and the R-FH Peer Leadership Program. The Peer Leadership Program is made up of 30 students who help facilitate different educational programs throughout the year.

Kate Kostecky is a peer leader and believes that the program is an answer for students who are facing challenges like cyber bullying. "If I had a problem, I know I would rather talk to another student then a teacher who maybe would not really understand how I am feeling or where I am coming from," said Kostecky.

The RFH program was presented throughout the second week of December. Programs like the workshop given at RFHRHS are happening across the United States in response to the tragic death of a Rutgers University student who killed himself after two classmates allegedly streamed his sexual encounters online.

Marielle Fiorino is in the 11^th grade and helped facilitate one of the workshops. She says that education is the answer to problems like cyber bullying. "Programs like this one really do make a difference in our school community because they help raise awareness," said Fiorino.

The program also sent home materials for parents to use to discuss these issues with their children.

If you are interested in learning more about cyber bullying, some useful websites are listed below;

Stopcyberbullying.org

www.ncpc.org/cyberbullying

www.cyberbullying.us/

www.cyberbullying.org/